Related papers: Some beautiful equations of mathematical physics
In these lectures, I discuss the role of symmetries in particle physics. I begin by discussing global symmetries and show that they can be realized differently in nature, depending on whether or not the vacuum state is left invariant by the…
In modern physics, one of the greatest divides is that between space-time and quantum fields, as the fiber bundle of the Standard Model indicates. However on the operational grounds the fields and spacetime are not very different. To…
The quantum field theoretic description of general relativity is a modern approach to gravity where gravitational force is carried by spin-2 gravitons. In the classical limit of this theory, general relativity as described by the Einstein…
In this paper, the principles of the general relativity are used to formulate quantum wave equations for spin-0 and spin-1/2 particles. More specifically, the equations are worked in a Schwarzschild-like metric. As a test, the hydrogen atom…
With the two most profound conceptual revolutions of XXth century physics, quantum mechanics and relativity, which have culminated into relativistic spacetime geometry and quantum gauge field theory as the principles for gravity and the…
The concept of gauge invariance is one of the most subtle and useful concepts in modern theoretical physics. It is one of the Standard Model cornerstones. The main benefit due to the gauge invariance is that it can permit the comprehension…
Quantum electrodynamics is the well-accepted theory. However, we feel it is useful to look at formalisms that provide alternative ways to describe light, because in the recent years the development of quantum field theories based primarily…
We consider classical gauge theory with spontaneous symmetry breaking on a principal bundle $P\to X$ whose structure group $G$ is reducible to a closed subgroup $H$, and sections of the quotient bundle $P/H\to X$ are treated as classical…
Quantum mechanics is based on a series of postulates which lead to a very good description of the microphysical realm but which have, up to now, not been derived from first principles. In the present work, we suggest such a derivation in…
General relativity and quantum mechanics are perhaps the two most successful theories of the XXth century. Despite their impressive accurate predictions, they are both valid at their own scales and do not seem to be expressible using the…
Quantum General Relativity (QGR), sometimes called Loop Quantum Gravity, has matured over the past fifteen years to a mathematically rigorous candidate quantum field theory of the gravitational field. The features that distinguish it from…
We present a formulation of gravity in terms of a theory based on complex SU(2) gauge fields with a general coordinate invariant action functional quadratic in the field strength. Self-duality or anti-self-duality of the field strength…
Gauge fields are ubiquitous in nature. In the context of quantum electrodynamics, you may be most familiar with the photon, which represents the gauge field mediating electromagnetic forces. But there are also gluons, which mediate strong…
Gauge invariance was discovered in the development of classical electromagnetism and was required when the latter was formulated in terms of the scalar and vector potentials. It is now considered to be a fundamental principle of nature,…
The gauge principle is a cornerstone of particle-physics model building. Nevertheless, many constructions leave certain global $U(1)$ redundancies ungauged. In this work, we take the gauge principle to its logical extreme by promoting all…
Gauge theories are powerful tools in theoretical physics, allowing complex phenomena to be reduced to simple principles, and are used in both high-energy and condensed matter physics. In the latter context, gauge theories are becoming…
A massive relativistic spinning point particle in any number of dimensions has in a previous article been shown to be described by first class constraints, which define a gauge theory. In the present paper we find the corresponding finite…
Since the early days of search for a quantum theory of gravity the attempts have been mostly concentrated on the quantization of an otherwise classical system. The two most contentious candidate theories of gravity, sting theory and quantum…
We discuss aspects of global and gauged symmetries in quantum field theory and quantum gravity, focusing on discrete gauge symmetries. An effective Lagrangian description of $\Z_p$ gauge theories shows that they are associated with an…
A formal symmetry between generalized coordinates and momenta is postulated to formulate classical and quantum theories of a particle coupled to an Abelian gauge field. It is shown that the symmetry (a) requires the field to have dynamic…